1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a releasable deck plate for use with a kayak or similar water craft to allow the operator of the craft to quickly and safely evacuate the cockpit during an emergency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Kayaks were introduced in Europe in the late 1800's. These boats were constructed of wood and were used exclusively for flatwater paddling. In the 1920's, the kayak became a popular touring craft in Germany. These kayaks were made of rubberized canvas over a wood frame and were known as Faltboats. The boats were seaworthy and were used primarily for open water travel. Whitewater river running with these craft was limited to very easy stretches of whitewater. Faltboats were not sturdy enough to withstand impacts with river obstacles or the force of the water in difficult rapids. Also these boats were not designed to manuever quickly enough for demanding whitewater situations.
The development of fiberglass materials in the 1950's enabled the construction of lightweight and strong kayaks with rigid hulls and decks. These kayaks were able to withstand the forces in a whitewater river and whitewater kayaking began its development as a recreational sport.
With the advent of these new boats more difficult whitewater could be run resulting in the development of new techniques of paddling. In all of these techniques, the paddler must brace himself firmly within the boat in order to control the craft precisely. The paddler braces his knees against the underside of the deck; this can be accomplished effectively only in a craft with a rigid foredeck. The Eskimo roll, an essential safety manuever, allows the paddler to right the boat after it has turned over. He may then continue paddling instead of having to swin the rapid (which can be extremely hazardous). The Eskimo roll also requires that the paddler brace his knees in order to hold himself firmly in the boat to roll it.
As expertise in the sport of whitewater kayaking has grown paddlers are now running rivers which were previously considered to difficult to run. This advancement in the sport has not come without a price. As more difficult stretches of whitwater have been run and with the increase in the number of kayakers, the number of whitewater accidents and deaths has increased substantially. The most hazardous of these accidents is the paddler "entrapment" situation. In this common scenario the boat becomes pinned against some river obstacle by the force of the current also trapping the paddler within the boat. Most often the paddler is unable to escape because he cannot extract his legs from beneath the foredeck. Such entrapments have lead to numerous deaths as a result of hypothermia or drowning.
Pinning of the boat against obstacles cannot be prevented, and so it is necessary to devise some means by which the paddler can more easily remove his legs from the craft to avoid entrapment. This may be achieved through the introduction of a removable foredeck section into the kayak, which, when removed, substantially increases the size of the cockpit. In order to be truly useful to the whitewater paddler, the removable foredeck must fulfill two criteria. First, it must be rigidly attached to the rest of the boat during normal operation in order to provide structural strength to the kayak. This also allows the paddler to brace his knees for manuevering and rolling (as described above). Secondly, the removable foredeck must be manually releasable in such as way as to separate from the craft only when it has been actuated by the paddler. Such an emergency escape system has never before been utilized in kayaks.
Prior art relating to emergency egress from kayak-type craft fail to meet both of these requirements. The patent of Brock U.S. Pat. No. (1,792,140) describes a sectional foredeck which opens automatically when the boat turns upside down. The patent of Von Moltke (DM No. 536,699) describes a flexible, sealed spraydeck which rolls open automatically when the boat is turned over. The patent of Hart (DM No. 507,952) describes a flexible deck with stiffeners which can be lifted up by the paddler and which also opens automatically when the boat is turned over. The automatic aspect of theis prior art forces the paddler to exit the craft every time it is turned upside down. In addition the paddler is unable to brace his knees firmly against the underside of the foredeck in these systems because the foredeck is not firmly attached to the remainder of the boat. For these reasons such prior art is totally unsuitable for modern whitewater kayaking which requires frequent use of the Eskimo Roll and constant knee bracing.